Johannesburg - The new Toyota Urban Cruiser has been revealed for the South African market and it potentially represents something of a conundrum for TSA.
What you see here is actually marketed as the Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder in its home market of India, and it was never intended as a direct replacement for the soon-to-be-axed Urban Cruiser, but rather as a more upmarket offering.
The discontinuation of the Suzuki-built Urban Cruiser left Toyota South Africa in something of a pickle as the affordable SUV was highly popular with local buyers, often selling in the region of 2 000 units a month.
The only logical replacement (for now) is what you see here. Curiously the new Urban Cruiser (Hyryder) is based on the Suzuki Grand Vitara, but it’s actually built in a Toyota plant in India and it’s further differentiated from its Suzuki sibling by a unique frontal design.
The problem for Toyota SA is that this is a bigger and more expensive product and although local pricing has yet to be announced, it will cost more than the vehicle it replaces. And here’s where Toyota will have to walk a tightrope, because the new model is significantly bigger than the current one and is in fact not much smaller than the Corolla Cross.
The outgoing Urban Cruiser measures 3 995mm in length, riding on a 2 600mm wheelbase, whereas the new Urban Cruiser stretches out to 4 365mm and 2 600mm. That’s not much smaller than the Corolla Cross, at 4460mm and 2640mm.
Toyota SA will have to position it at an affordable price point if it wants to even partially plug the void left by the highly popular Urban Cruiser, which currently starts at R283 200. But if the pricing and spec equation is too strong, it could potentially steal sales from the locally-built Corolla Cross, which retails from R371 200. And local assembly is not something you want to jeopardise.
Power is expected to come from a 1.5-litre normally aspirated petrol engine, which produces 76kW and 136Nm. The company also offers a hybrid version in India, however Toyota says this option will not be available in South Africa for at least the next 12 to 18 months.
But what if there was another vehicle that could plug the gap at the lower end of the SUV market?
At the moment such a vehicle does not exist, however it is strongly rumoured that Toyota’s Indian division is going to market a version of the new Suzuki Fronx called the Toyota Taisor - which should make it popular with security companies!
Smaller than the new Urban Cruiser, and loosely based on the Suzuki Baleno (AKA Toyota Starlet), the Taisor will almost certainly come in at a lower price point to satisfy budget-conscious consumers.